'40 Years of the Amazing Spider-Man' - 501 comic books, spanning 40 years - for $49.95

The wonders of digital technology.

Marvel's put every single issue of "Amazing Spider-Man," from No. 1 (March 1963) to No. 500 (December 2003) on disc.

Bonus: "Amazing Fantasy" No. 15, from 1962, the first appearance ever of the superhero.

But wait, there's more.

Included on the 11 CDs are all four covers of every issue, all the articles, the "Spider's Web" columns, the "Bullpen Bulletins," Stan "The Man" Lee's Soapboxes, and every vintage ad.

The comics were scanned in high-resolution from the original historic paper comic books of Marvel editor and collector Ralph Macchio.

Older issues are yellow with age; some images are a bit soiled, or have slight discolorations or small tears, creases, or light pen marks.

Just makes them all the more real.

And that's not all: you can print out the comics to your heart's content if you'd prefer to read them the old-fashioned way.

What's not to like?

$49.95 here.

Spider-Man not your cup of tea?

No problema: Marvel's given many other superheroes the same digital treatment, creating similar CD sets for the Avengers, Captain America, Daredevil, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, Iron Man, and the X-Men.

Something to do when the meeting bogs down, or rounds deteriorate.

No one'll ever know.

[via George Gene Gustines and the New York Times]